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Indianapolis Pharmacy Technician arrested for stealing around 800 prescription pills from Walgreens

Pills
Posted at 6:43 PM, Mar 22, 2023
and last updated 2023-03-22 18:53:19-04

An Indianapolis pharmacy technician is accused of stealing around 800 prescription pills from Walgreens.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the theft happened at the 56th and Georgetown Road location.

Zennon Gaines is accused of stealing 366 tablets of Adderall, 357 tablets of Percocet and Oxycontin, 22 tablets of Xanxex, Norco and more.

"It's very dangerous when this happens because you have technicians that are working at a very reputable pharmacy, such as Walgreens, that are stealing that," DEA Special Agent Michael Gannon said. "It's dangerous because that stuff is getting on the streets. We have a record number of overdose deaths and we can't have people that we trust doing that, so it's obviously very scary."

The court documents state the investigation began with customer complaints of being shorted on their medication.

Surveillance videos show the tech placing pills into a separate container and keeping them.

According to the affidavit, Gaines stated he had a friend that was asking him for "stuff" via text messages. Gaines would then take the pills from the pharmacy as he would fill the prescriptions.

Gaines stated he stopped stealing pills a few weeks ago.

Police found a grocery bag filled with 18 bottles of pills hidden in his vehicle.

"It's very dangerous when those prescription pills are being provided illegally to other people. There's a lot going on in the country with overdose deaths. Very scary things happen with those same pills. They are being laced with fentanyl," Gannon said.

The DEA and IMPD arrested Gaines on 13 charges ranging from theft, dealing a narcotic, possession of a narcotic, possession of controlled substance and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.